Phosphorus acquisition efficiency in arbuscular mycorrhizal maize is correlated with the abundance of root-external hyphae and the accumulation of transcripts encoding PHT1 phosphate transporters.

Plant interactions with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi have long attracted interest for their potential to promote more efficient use of mineral resources in agriculture. Their use, however, remains limited by a lack of understanding of the processes that determine the outcome of the symbiosis. In this study, the impact of host genotype on growth response to mycorrhizal inoculation was investigated in a panel of diverse maize lines. A panel of 30 maize lines was evaluated with and without inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. The line Oh43 was identified to show superior response and, along with five other reference lines, was characterized in greater detail in a split-compartment system, using 33 P to quantify mycorrhizal phosphorus uptake. Changes in relative growth indicated variation in host capacity to profit from the symbiosis. Shoot phosphate content, abundance of root-internal and -external fungal structures, mycorrhizal phosphorus uptake, and accumulation of transcripts encoding plant PHT1 family phosphate transporters varied among lines. Superior response in Oh43 is correlated with extensive development of root-external hyphae, accumulation of specific Pht1 transcripts and high phosphorus uptake by mycorrhizal plants. The data indicate that host genetic factors influence fungal growth strategy with an impact on plant performance.

The maize (Zea mays ssp. mays var. B73) genome encodes 33 members of the purple acid phosphatase family.

Purple acid phosphatases (PAPs) play an important role in plant phosphorus nutrition, both by liberating phosphorus from organic sources in the soil and by modulating distribution within the plant throughout growth and development. Furthermore, members of the PAP protein family have been implicated in a broader role in plant mineral homeostasis, stress responses and development. We have identified 33 candidate PAP encoding gene models in the maize (Zea mays ssp. mays var. B73) reference genome. The maize Pap family includes a clear single-copy ortholog of the Arabidopsis gene AtPAP26, shown previously to encode both major intracellular and secreted acid phosphatase activities. Certain groups of PAPs present in Arabidopsis, however, are absent in maize, while the maize family contains a number of expansions, including a distinct radiation not present in Arabidopsis. Analysis of RNA-sequencing based transcriptome data revealed accumulation of maize Pap transcripts in multiple plant tissues at multiple stages of development, and increased accumulation of specific transcripts under low phosphorus availability. These data suggest the maize PAP family as a whole to have broad significance throughout the plant life cycle, while highlighting potential functional specialization of individual family members.